Illusion device.



F. MIELE lLLUSION DEVICE. Arrmonlol FILED :11.30.1909.

999,512. y Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

I" ...1n l|||| ilY mm1 um FRANK MIELE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ILLUSION DEVICE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

Application led January 30, 1909. Serial No. 475,108.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK MIELE, of the city and State of New York, and whose post-oiice address is 275 East One Hundred and F ifty-fourth street, in the borough of Bronx, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Illusion Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an illusion device, by means of which objects may be viewed distorted in various ways according to the position in which the device is placed; and it resides in certain special features of construction and combinations of parts which will be fully set forth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is now had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate as an example one manner in which the principles of my invention may be practically embodied.

In these drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2, Fig. 3 showing the device in use; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. '2.

The essential parts of the device reside in two tapering refr-acting prisms a and b, which, as shown in Fig. 2, are disposed at an angle to each other, preferably approximately ninety degrees, and of which the lens a has its thick edge abutted against the thin edge of the lens b.

The prisms a and b are held in a suitable box having end walls c, a bottom portion d and a top Wall or portion e. The bottom portion d is inclined upward to meet the lower edges of the prisms and the top wall e has downward extensions or curtains respectively meeting the upper edges of the prisms a and b. This construction, it will be perceived, provides a box open laterally from vone side to the other, and such opening is filled by the peculiarly arranged prisms a and b.

It will be noted that the bottom d, which forms a support for the prisms, is triangular in cross-section, its apex being disposed substantially centrally of the box, and one of its sides is provided with a recess d into which the thin edge of the prism b is seated. This sustains the prism b and the thick edge of the prism a is seated upon the upper face of the prism b at the thin edge thereof.

In the use of the invention, the device is held before the eyes of the observer in the manner shown in Fig. 2 and owing to the reversely arranged prisms and the diagonal disposition thereof to the line of vision, the object is enlarged or decreased vertically according to the side of the device presented to the eye.V The result of this vertical enlargement or reduction is a corresponding distortion of the object, affording an interesting and amusing result, and it is also evident that corresponding lateral distortions of the object may be obtained by holding the device at right angles to the position shown in Fig. 2. These changes in the appearance of the object are due to the dispersion of rays of light in one direction and condensation in the other.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. An illusion device, comprising a box having oppositely-disposed openings, a triangular support within the box intermediate said openings, the apex of said support being disposed substantially centrally of the box, and a pair of reversely disposed prisms arranged in said box at an angle to each other, the meeting portions of said prisms being seated upon the apex of said support.

2. An illusion device, comprising a box having oppositely-disposed openings, a triangular support within the box intermediate said openings, the apex of said support being disposed substantially centrally of the box and having a recess, and a pair of reversely-disposed prisms arranged in said box at an angle to each other, the prisms meeting at a point above said recess, and one of said prisms being seated in said recess.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK MIELE.

Witnesses:

IsAAc B. OWENS, B. Breen.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

